Banks' daily FX turnover hits 4-yr low in 2014

Daily foreign exchange turnover by South Korean banks reached a four-year low in 2014, as an increase in overseas investment offset a rise in the current account surplus, the central bank said Monday.
  

The daily FX turnover averaged $44.40 billion last year, down 3.4 percent, or $1.58 billion, from $45.98 billion the previous year, according to the Bank of Korea.
  

The 2014 foreign exchange trading volume marks the lowest since 2010 when the comparable figure was $41.89 billion, it said.
  

The daily trading volume of foreign exchange spots came to $16.65 billion last year, down 8.4 percent from a year earlier, it added.
  

The daily foreign exchange turnover of forward deals gained 6.5 percent on-year to $7.59 billion while that of FX swaps shed 2.7 percent to $19.01 billion, it said.
  

In 2014, the South Korean economy, Asia's fourth-largest, expanded 3.3 percent, compared with growth of 3 percent in 2013 and 2.3 percent in 2012.
 

For this year, the BOK expects a 3.4 percent rise, while the government projects a 3.8 percent expansion.
  

Overall, the Korean won depreciated 4 percent against the greenback last year, reversing from a 1.4 percent rise in 2013. (Yonhap)